Toxic Specters and Icy Phantoms
by DJ The Sonic Nerd
Summary: An abandoned Haunter named Specter who doesn't think he can experience a trainer's love once more. A fish out of water half-ghost hybrid named Danny, trapped in another dimension with no forseeable way home. With events set in place, it's only a matter of time before these two find each other.
1. Prologue

_**(For the context of the story in mostly just this chapter, I'll be delving into a bit of competitive breeding and battling terminology. You'll see why, but sorry to those who aren't well versed in these mechanics; I swear this is the only time where it's important… mostly cause Danny will have no idea what any of it means either.**_

 _ **Also, Phantom Planet didn't happen in this story.)**_

Prologue- Lonely Natured Haunter

Hey there! I didn't see you show up! Impressive! I don't mean to brag, but it's usually pretty hard to spook me.

My name's Haunter. Just Haunter. Really. No nicknames, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Who needs a trainer to give you a stupid nickname like 'Spooky', or 'Casper', or 'Shadow', or something else like that? If a trainer were to try and call me that, I'd Shadow Claw their eyes out.

Who needs a trainer to force you to do stuff you don't want to do? Who needs a trainer to waste your time sending you off to silly plays over in Nimbasa City? Or to share a Castelia Cone with you? Or to hang out by the beach in Undella Town? Or to love and assure you that you aren't just some pawn to battle others for your own fame and glory, and that you actually matter and aren't part of some vicious cycle of breeding and abandonment?

...Okay, truth is I used to have a Trainer. _Used_ to. I used to share Castelia Cones with him. And hang out by the beach in Undella Town. And go around all of Unova collecting badges and having a grand adventure. I was my old trainer's Ace! Better than that stupid Snivy he kept around for some reason! He didn't go all the way and become Champion, but that was okay! He didn't care; he just wanted to have the experience in trying. He'd pat me on the back (or try to… what, I'm a Ghost made entirely out of gas, cut me some slack!) and tell me, 'Good going, Specter, you did your best!'

...Alright, so I DO have a nickname. You can shut up now.

My old trainer and me, we did everything together… until he grew up.

When he became an adult, he learned how to battle properly, and how to breed. He found himself a Ditto and stuck us both in a daycare. After a little magic (like I'd tell you people how a Pokemon reproduces. Use your imagination!) out came a fresh baby Gastly. With anything a big league player could ever want.

I'm… not the best Haunter to have on a competitive team. I'm a Lonely nature Haunter, and it doesn't just mean I'm seriously lonely and in need of a hug. Once he found a Gastly that was ten times better than me, he dropped me like a fired up Electrode and ditched me in White Forest, where I've been stuck sitting on a rock since, for about two years now. I heard the jerk's a Gengar now and the two of them are sitting pretty up in the Pokemon League as Champions of Unova, the title that should belong to ME! Not the Gengar, ME!

But who cares? Only special people like Ghost-Types anyways. I have the misfortune of being not only one pariah type, but TWO! Not all Poison-Types are bad, people! Some of us actually WANT someone to love us…

Ah, who am I kidding? Who the heck could love a freak Haunter like me? I'm not good for anything but scaring people who pass through, just like the rest of my species. Not good at battling, surely not good at getting along with others at this point… I'm just useless..

Maybe I'll get lucky and find someone who understands what it's like to not fit in...


	2. The Ghost and the Ghost Boy

_**(So sorry this took so long. I've been thinking about how I want Specter and Danny's first meeting to go. I have finally come up with something interesting, so here you go.)**_

Chapter 1- The Ghost and the Ghost Boy

When I'm not sitting on my lonely little rock and moping around, I like to scare the living crud out of humans. Seeing the look on their faces as they run away in terror just pleases me.

What, besides draining people's life force with our tongues, scaring people and being goofy is what a Haunter does best! It does my nonexistent heart good to see people running away like maniacs when I pop out of nowhere to spook them; makes being a Ghost-type just a little bit worth it.

Some days, it's a little kid who snuck on over past all the guards that are there until you beat the Elite Four for some reason. It's my way of keeping the little brats from fighting all the real tough Pokemon too early. Wouldn't wanna see em have their journey end prematurely, if you know what I mean. Route 14 is not a friendly place for new trainers. Other days, I do get tough trainers out there. I like scarin' 'em anyways. They all remind me of my old trainer too much, the power hungry jerks. Course I could just let them get to Undella Town; the Sinnoh Champ showing up outta nowhere is scarier than anything I could pull outta my ghostly butt. I WILL avoid scaring old people and little kids who aren't trainers yet. Those aren't even fair targets, so why bother.

Today's no different. It's late afternoon, around the time it starts getting dark, and I'm on the prowl for some unsuspecting trainers. It's been a really slow day, slow enough to tempt me to go into the Pokemon Center a few times for some easy pickins, even. I'm finally about to cave and go in when I hear rustling from deeper in the forest. I see this as finally my prime opportunity to get some scaring in.

I turn myself invisible and start looking for my prey. I stop when I hear a startled yelp not too far away. A startled yelp I didn't cause is, in all honesty, NOT the kind of startled yelp I like, so I decide to rush off in the direction of the cry.

As I get closer, I can immediately hear what Pokemon's involved, and I head faster in the direction outta concern, cause now I know this is serious. It's an Amoonguss; anyone that gets an Amoonguss upset is asking for a Spore or Poison Powder to the face, and the ones that live around here are a bunch of jerks with short fuses. I should know; I met up with this one before and slept for an entire day and a half afterwards.

I finally get to the area, and see that the kid getting attacked is a teenager. He doesn't look like he's a Pokemon Trainer, which makes sense since it looks like he's only just at the minimum age in Unova for Pokemon training of 14. His eyes are as blue as the icicles on a Beartic, hair as black as Zekrom. He's real skinny too; maybe he's been lost in the woods for awhile and hasn't eaten Although, that makes no sense, seeing his close only have a few mild grass stains.

"Take it easy, I didn't mean to fall on you!" the kid tries to apologize, but knowing that Amoonguss, he's not gonna take it lying down. I try to sneak closer so I can take him out with a Shadow Punch, making sure to stay invisible. To my shock, the kid looks right at me when I come out of the shadows, even though no one should be able to see me.

How the heck can he see me?!

Just to make sure, I make a shush sign with my finger and the kid gives me a nod, one that Amoonguss luckily doesn't catch.

"You've got a lot of nerve landin' on my head like that, brat…" Amoonguss says, though I know that humans can't understand us, so it probably came out like 'Moon-AmoonGUSS' or somethin'. Just as he charges up a Poison Powder, I whack him in the head with Shadow Punch, making him go down but also shooting Spores everywhere. I cover my mouth before they get to me, but the kid isn't so lucky.

He coughs and starts swaying where he stands, and as soon as the spores clear up, I rush over to him.

"Hang on, kid, there's a Pokemon Center nearby. The one that's here pulls double duty as a human hospital."

"Pokemon Center…?" he asks me, his voice already sounding tired and his eyes drooping, and it takes me a bit to realize he knew what I was saying. Me, a Pokemon, understood perfectly by a human! I can't help it. Though he really needs to get to the hospital for those spores, I keep talking to him til he passes out.

"...You know what I said to you?"

"Why wouldn't I…?" He yawns before continuing. "Just because you're a ghost doesn't mean humans can't understand you." What's that supposed to mean? Ghost-Types go by the same rules as other Pokemon unless we're using telepathy. "And what the heck is a Pokemon Center?"

"A place that heals Pokemon?" I can't believe this; the kid doesn't know what a Pokemon Center is?! Has he been living under a Gigalith?! And now he's givin' me this look like he doesn't even know what a _Pokemon_ is. That's ridiculous! Humans start learning about Pokemon the moment they say their first words! I'm about to ask him more, but by the time I do, he's succumbed to the spores, passed out on my back.

I'll just get my answers later. I need to hurry up and get him some help.


	3. Introductions

Chapter 2- Introductions

Sweet mother of Arceus, this kid is heavier than he looks.

After maybe 30 seconds, I can't carry him on my back anymore so I have to resort to dragging him because I can barely lift him off the ground. I'm screaming on the inside because I have a half a mile to go before I hit the Pokemon Center.

"Lay off the... " I huff for a second, "hotdogs, kid...! Whew…" Of course, the only response I get is snoring. REALLY loud snoring that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I tell ya, this keeps getting better and better.

Oh, don't pretend you aren't laughing at me. Hey, just because I'm a lightweight doesn't mean that I can't lift stuff! So what if I'm out of shape? I can even lift a Patrat if I put my mind into it… whadaya mean they only weigh 25 pounds?!

"Don't suppose you'd… wanna… wake up and... take yourself to the center, kid…?" I try asking him, homing in on the Pokemon Center's glow with the dopiest smile on my face. It's not that far away now!

"Keep the marshmallow pies away from the wood chipper, Box Ghost…" he mumbles in his sleep about five seconds later.

"Whatever that's supposed to mean, I'm taking it as a 'no'." And what the heck is a 'Box Ghost' anyways? Is it a Rotom-Wash? I think it's a Rotom-Wash; only Ghost that fits. I groan and shut myself up; complaining's only gonna make things a billion times worse. And just to rub a bit of salt in the wound, as I get just about to the door, he starts jostling and stirring around. Unless he's somehow got Early Bird, that's not possible, for starters. I mean, it's not like this scrawny kid's bulky enough to fight off the spores; Amoonguss blasted him point blank with a lot of 'em, enough to knock out something as big as a Donphan.

Why did he have to wait until we were almost there too?!

"Kid, you alright?" I give trying to get him to answer me another shot, seeing as though his eyes are slightly cracked open. No answer comes; he's just looking at me like some half asleep goober, like a little kid who's trying to keep themselves awake on a long road trip in the middle of the night.

"Don't worry, I'll get you some help," I reassure, setting him down against the wall. Yeah that Amoonguss could come find him, but he's a laughably slow Pokemon on the move and I am TIRED… Making sure the kid's not gonna go anywhere, I phase through the wall into the Center, not even bothering to use the door. Business is slow this time of night, so nothing should stop the kid from getting treated right away with a few Chesto Berries. Sooner I'm alone again, the better.

"JOY, WE GOT TROUBLE!"

Nurse Joy darts her head from out of her newspaper at me the moment I rush in screaming, though it's probably nuthin' but that Pokenese gibberish to her. Man I hate our language barriers sometimes. Seriously, humans, we Pokemon aren't THAT hard to understand...

"Haunter, what's the matter? You usually don't come in here," Joy asks me as she comes from behind the counter, looking a little concerned and suspicious; No lady, I'm not here to scare anyone this time! It's an emergency!

"Look, I need help ASAP! There's this kid outside and he got hit with a Sp-"

* * *

"-aun! Haunter haun-haun!" Specter waves his arms frantically, trying to convince Nurse Joy to follow him outside. His eyes bulge in exertion multiple times as he becomes more and more frustrated with Nurse Joy's dumbfounded expression, Trainers within the waiting area looking at the ghost Pokemon like he had gone insane.

"HAUNTER HAUN-TER!"

"Haunter, please, slow down. I have no idea what you're trying to tell me," Joy explains as sweetly as she can, walking slowly to Specter like you would any feral Pokemon. If he had finally lost it, she would have to take precaution as an attack from the decently high leveled Pokemon would hurt badly. In response, Specter glares, and uses any energy he has left to pull the nurse outside by the collar of her uniform.

"O-Oh!" Joy yelps.

"Haun Haunter H-"

* * *

"-lly don't have time for this." I tell her as I'm pulling her, pretty sick of all her 'Wild Pokemon Control' time wasting crap. It's really hard, but I eventually get her outside despite all of her resistance.

"Honestly, what's the problem, Haunter?" She says, tilting her head. If she seriously can't hear the snoring -the kid's probably conked out again- she's deaf. Finally she looks out from behind me and sees him.

"A Trainer?" She gets out of my grip and heads on over to him, looking him up and down and noticing all of the purple specks on him; typically, spores are green, but the Amoonguss out here have purple spores with everything other than a Stun Spore. Then she turns to me. "Did you accidentally hit someone with a Poison Jab again?"

I swear, you Poison Jab a Trainer in the stomach because you thought they were a log and get them sent to the hospital ONE TIME and you never hear the end of it. I groan impatiently and lift a tiny purple particle off of the kid's shirt to show it to her.

Just from looking at him more closely like this, I really can't tell if this kid's Unovan or not? He doesn't have the look of someone from Kanto, Johto, or Sinnoh, he doesn't look rugged enough for Hoenn, he's DEFINITELY not tan enough for Alola, and this plain white and red t-shirt would get him laughed off the streets in Kalos. Bunch of preppy fashionista jerkwads… He doesn't look like he's from anywhere else I know off, it's just that he seems too… OFF for Unova.

"Those are Spores," Nurse Joy says, pointing out the obvious like she normally does. She nods to herself and rushes back into the Center, coming back out with a water spritzer, a towel, and a few Chesto Berries. It's looking to be a pretty simple operation then. No need for me to stick aro-

"WAIT FOR ME, MS JOY!"

Oh no…

A moment later, a Chansey comes running out of the Center, a red Basculin in her hand. She wears a grin so creepy that it makes the rest of my own species blush, has a disposition so secretly vile that you wouldn't know she was about to take pleasure in your pain until it was too late. A Gyarados walked into the building with his Trainer about a week ago; both of them skipped the area and went straight to the further away Nimbasa City to heal when they were passing through.

She goes by many names, but most simply call her Clover.

Clover… Clover's not exactly right in the head like your typical Center 'Mon.

"Don't worry, Ms. Joy! I'll get those nasty Spores off of him!" Clover says, grabbing the Basculin like a water pistol and aiming it right at the kid's chest.

"C-Can't we just push him into the pond to wash him off?" Basculin says, clearly in a lot of pain from how Clover's squeezing him.

"We could… BUT THIS IS MORE FUN!" Clover screams, smiling from ear to ear as she mashes Basculin's sides together HARD and forces him to use Hydro Pump instead of a nice and gentle Water Gun. Poor kid wakes up almost immediately, even with the Spores still all over him. Thanks to the angle he was at, he gets launched right into the pond, as if the universe was messing with him.

"That was fun," Clover concludes, waddling back in while Nurse Joy looks at her surprised. You mean she DOESN'T know her Chansey is a sadist?

The kid lands with a loud splash and a yelp as his body enters the surprisingly deep pool. A moment later and his body shoots up as he grips the sides with a gasp, sputtering and coughing out water and trying to catch his breath, Nurse Joy's on him in seconds.

"Are you okay, young man?" Nurse Joy says, holding out a hand for him to grip. Even though it's kinda messed up, I'm holding back snickering at the kid's head. His unnaturally messy hair's all soaked and floppy and a Lotad's sleeping on top of his head without him even noticing.

"Besides the stabbing pain in my left side and the fact my lungs are full of more water than air, I think I'm gonna be fine... " He takes her hand gratefully and is lifted out of the water, the Lotad falling off when he tries patting some water out of his ear. Little guy pouts before swimming back in.

"I'm so sorry my Chansey did that. I have no idea what came over her," Joy says as she bows in apology. Clover comes back out at JUST the right time. The kid just so happens to glance at her when he's about to ask what a 'Chansey' is and his eyes look like they're gonna come out of his skull from how wide they get.

"Ooh, ooh, how'd I do?! How hurt is he?!" You can practically see the excitement dancing off her eyes as she looks at the kid.

" _That's_ a Chansey?" He points to her, and she gets the saddest look

"Dang, he's not hurt enough to come back in…" I hear Clover mutter as she turns to go back inside, hiding what looks suspiciously like a Rocky Helmet. He intently watches her leave, soaking her appearance all in and doing a gaped mouth double take as if he can't believe what he's seeing.

"First evil mushrooms and now a giant pink egg creature?" He puts his hands into his head in exasperation. "Either that portal took me to a new part of the Ghost Zone or I hit my head on the way down."

Ghost Zone? There's a place with a bunch of Ghost-types?

"I'm sorry? 'Ghost Zone'?" Nurse Joy asks, probably confused just like me.

"Don't worry about it," he says quickly, backpedalling. Nurse Joy seems to forget about it but I sure as heck haven't. And it's late at night in the middle of winter. Why isn't he freezing his butt off and shivering? "Where am I?"

"This is White Forest, a nature reserve within the eastern portion of the Unova region," Nurse Joy says with a smile. The rising anxiety on him is practically tangible. Kinda reminds me of my old trainer early on when I nearly fainted fighting a Watchog.

Stop thinking about him, Specter.

"You wouldn't happen to know the way back to Amity Park, would you?"

"You mean Amity Square? Honey, that's a Pokemon playground all the way in the Sinnoh Region, isn't it? Why would you need to be there?"

"Oh, man, this isn't good…" He mutters to himself, running a hand through his hair.

He then goes on to explain his situation. Y'know, telling her that his name is Danny and that he's somehow from 'another dimension' because his parents are child endangering mad scientists. Yeah, okay, kid. And I thought the crazy dimension hoppers over in Alola were insane liars. Halfway through, I sit back down on my stump, their voices starting to drone on as I try to catch a few zzz's before the sun comes up. Because Joy's so dense and barely even gets it on a basic level like me, Danny's voice starts rising a few octaves in desperation and sleep gets thrown out the window. Arceus, I hate kids going through puberty.

"I think maybe you need to sit down for awhile, sweetie…" Joy says, trying to guide him inside the Center. It works for a bit… before his body _goes right through her…_ And is it me or did his eyes get REALLY green for a second there?

"Look, I'm telling the truth! I'm from another dimension, not this Pokey Man place!"

"Pokémon," Joy answers nonchalantly.

He sighs and calms down, and that weird green tinge goes away. Guess he knows there's no really dealing with her. "Pokémon. Whatever. Is there any way for me to get out of here and get back home? I've got friends and family I need to get back to," Danny pleads, crossing his arms impatiently. By now his clothes are totally bone dry and his hair is back in that spiky mess like it's in perma-hair gel mode. I roll my eyes, looking back towards the edge of the forest.

"Well… I don't really know much about that. You could ask Professor Juniper in Nuvema Town. She'd most likely have an idea of how to help you."

Heh. A guy like him going through here to Nuvema Town? He'd get eaten alive. Aw well. Nice knowing hi-

"Haunter can help you get there safely if you don't have a Pokémon of your own!"

...I'm sorry, what did she say…?

"Hey, it's that ghost that helped me out with the giant mushroom from before!"

She can't be serious, can she…? She's gonna make me be a guide 'mon to a guy I found in the forest that turned out to be a deluded nut?!

"Haunter used to belong to the Champion of the region. He knows it like the back of his hand. He'll be able to take you to Nuvema Town safely"

"Now what makes you think I'm gonna-" I get interrupted by Joy pushing the two of us together like lovers. I dunno why she's in a hurry to get him to leave but a map gets shoved into his hand and we get sent off. "Be careful you two!"

I wait until she's gone before speaking further on the matter. "Alright, look, kid, there is absolutely no way I'm leaving this forest. You can go skipping around getting yourself killed on Route 15 for all I care, but I want no part o- Hey where'd he go?" I notice that he already left. Got about 20 feet away without me noticing.

"If you don't wanna help out, that's fine!" Danny says while waving when I finally see him. "I can walk there myself, thanks!"

Well. That takes care of that headache.

Honestly, I don't know why I was so worried. He's an idiot. Of course he'd think he could get to Nuvema Town all by himself. Might as well get some shut eye an-

"Nurse Joy told you to go with him, Specter."

"GAH!" Holy crud, Clover is a little sneak. Makes me fall right off my stump. How she waddled all the way over without me noticing is beyond me.

"But that's okay if you don't want to go… _you can stay here with me…_ "

Oh, THAT ain't happening. "Uh… DANNY WAIT FOR ME!" I hightail my purple little butt back over to the kid quick as a flash, making him jump. He gives me a bit of a smug look as he addresses me before looking back to his map.

"That was quick," he says, barely looking up. "What made you change your mind?"

"Oh, I just wanted to do my part as an upstanding Poké-citizen and help you get t-"

"Was it the demonic 'Chansey'?"

"Yup." That gets a few chuckles out of him while I pout. Then something occurs to me. "Wait, so you knew what she was saying too?"

"No," he answers, "I could tell she was evil by her body language. It's something I picked up on after a while." I don't think I even want to know what that's supposed to mean.

"Then how come you can understand me?"

"Hmm… let's just say I know a thing or two about talking to ghosts." Ah, part of his 'interdimensional' thing, I presume. "So do I just call you 'Haunter' or do you want to be called something else."

"...Just call me Haunter, kid." No one's got the right to call me 'Specter' unless I tell them they can… or if they're Clover and I can't stop them. He seems to pick up on how my mood lessens a bit, but doesn't say anything.

"Alright then. Despite a bit of an awkward start, it's nice to meet you, Haunter." He stops and turns to me, extending out his arm for a hand shake. "My name's Danny. I promise once I get to the professor you can leave if you want but until then, partners?"

I look at his hand for a solid minute, thinking. It reminds me of the demeanor my old trainer had. All nice and caring about my feelings and such. He loved getting my input on everything he did, even though he couldn't directly understand me like Danny can. Last time he ever truly did something like this was when we were looking around near the Strange House. He wanted to know if it was okay if he caught one of the Litwick inside the building. Little did I know it was to try and dispose of me the 'easy' way.

Don't think about that now, Spec. Danny isn't him. At least I don't think so right now without any solid proof. Take his hand so we can leave.

"...Partners." I grab his hand in a tight grip, mentally preparing myself to leave the forest for the first time in years.

This trip is secretly gonna be the second death of me, isn't it?

* * *

 _ **(Sorry about putting this story on the back burner for so long, but I'm back.**_

 _ **Almost forgot to mention one thing: on the Pokemon side of things, the world is more based on 'Black 2 and White 2' than 'Black and White', with White Forest based on White's version. The main story here deviates from the games as I'm not sure I want to add in Team Plasma or not; I find they wouldn't really fit the tone that I'm going for and would provide an unnecessary distraction. Therefore, in terms of story, if you haven't played the games you shouldn't be worried about spoilers.)**_

 ** _Edit: For those of you who saw the new chapter before the post chapter posting edit, the story's still No PP. Sorry for any confusion._**


	4. Route 15's Dangerous Poké-Wall

Chapter 3- Route 15's Dangerous Poké-Wall

To be entirely honest, this isn't how I thought I would be spending my Saturday. At all.

My Friday nights end up a little more… is 'normal' really the right way to put it? It's normal for _me_ but not other people, if that helps. And no, I don't mean the whole 'sleepover with friends', 'stay up all night doing homework or playing video games' thing, I mean 'save people's lives while they sleep' and 'keep my friends from arguing about whether biology class should be banned from using dead animals as test subjects so they can rest in peace' kind of deal.

I'm Danny Fenton, and for about the past year, my life has been nothing but chaos.

I never really tell people this due to worrying about my own safety and well-being, but if you're gonna be able to follow anything, you kinda need to know: I'm half-ghost, and that gives me access to a bunch of ghost powers. Sure I look human now, but when I need to, I can go ghost and turn into my alter ego, Danny Phantom. I save my home town of Amity Park from any and all ghosts that attack, which is pretty much ghost central because of my parents.

... No, I'm not joking, I'm not lying, ghosts really do exist, I'm still alive -technically... I think... hopefully...- and I'm not crazy if that's what you were thinking.

… Excuse me, my superhero name is TOO creative. No one knows who I am besides my friends and sister after all this time, so it has to work for something!

I'm thinking that's why I can talk to Haunter. Ghosts don't have their own language, besides the languages they spoke before they died, but it's easier for me to understand him simply besides he's a 'Ghost-Type', whatever that is.

Right, right, so back to how I ended up in this mess.

In retrospect, it's a kind of funny story. My parents wanted me to help them in the lab. I'm grounded because I had to cut class and fight a giant angry ghost bear so it's what they thought up for my punishment.

They were making some alterations to the family ghost portal, the thing that made me half-ghost, and my dad told me to hook back up a few loose wires that he couldn't reach. I guess I connected something wrong 'cause the inside of the portal sort of exploded. I'm not a tech guy, what did you expect?

When the portal blew up, a large gust of wind was drawn into the center. Mom and Dad were fine because they were a bit further away when it happened, but I got sucked right in. The next thing I know, I'm falling about 200 feet from the ground above a large forest of trees. I was dropping like a rock, and didn't even have enough air in my lungs to scream. And lucky me, the huge burst of ectoplasm must have knocked out a large chunk of my powers, so I couldn't fly to save myself from smacking into as many trees as the universe thought appropriate for me to smack into. Which was a lot because as I discovered a long time ago, the universe hates my guts.

The landing at least was soft though… but only because I landed on that mushroom 'Pokeymon' thing. That's when Haunter found me.

This whole thing is looking pretty bleak. Stuck in a world where eggs can apparently talk, and the fish always look angry, and only normal thing around is a ghost without any arms that always has its tongue out when it isn't talking with no way back and no way to even defend myself. I check whenever Haunter isn't looking and I'm down to only my very most basic powers: intangibility, my ghost sense, my glowing eyes that light up when I get agitated or angry, and invisibility of small parts of my body. At least when I first got my powers, I could _fly._

Who knows what's going on back home? Mom and Dad are probably going nuts with worry right now. My friends Sam and Tucker most definitely know I'm gone. My sister would have realized why our parents were panicking and called them to fill them in. Besides that, I have no idea what's going on back there.

Until I get back I'm gonna have a heck of a time learning how things work here. A minute ago, Haunter and I passed by two people making an anteater and a bald eagle fight each other. Is that kind of thing _common?_ Do people really spend their time here making helpless animals fight like they're in crazed dog fights or something?

Okay, so I wouldn't say helpless. The anteater started breathing fire and the gusts of wind that the eagle made nearly put Vortex to shame. And Haunter's telling me that his kind of Pokeyman -there's more than one Haunter?- can lick people to poison them until they convulse and die. It's like the Ghost Zone all over again only with humans and cute little creatures that can easily kill you! Fun! And just over there to the right of us on a bridge, I can hear a fight between a weasel that can shoot water from thin air and a flying squirrel that zaps people. Am I gonna have to get a Pokeyman in order to function in this place? I guess I'm going to have to if I'm gonna get anything done without my more aggressive abilities.

"Dang, you're quieter than a Cyndaquil, Danny. Thought you'd at least talk and make this whole thing more tolerable."

I get startled out of my train of thought by Haunter. I almost forgot he was next to me to be honest; he hasn't been the most talkative either.

"Sorry, I'm just thinking things over. So what was up with those two guys making that eagle and anteater fight each other?" I ask. If I'm gonna be stuck here, I REALLY need to know this kind of stuff. Haunter gives me an attitude again.

"First off, I already told you, it's _Heatmor and Braviary_ , not an 'anteater' and 'eagle'. What even are those?!"

"Animals from my world," I answer. I hope he'll eventually get the hint I'm not lying to him about being from another dimension if I keep dropping hints.

"And what in the Distortion World is an 'animal'?"

"I'm not answering that until you give me a solid, coherent answer on what a 'Pokeyman' exactly is."

"Pokémon!"

"Whatever." I know fighting over something like this is really stupid and childish, but that's how Haunter acts, so I'm stooping down to his level.

I have no idea what Haunter's problem is with me. I thought his reluctance to go with me was from the fact that he didn't want to leave his little stump I saw him sitting on, but now I think he hates me and I didn't even do anything!

"Secondly," he continues, "since I'm just gonna play along with your whole 'other dimension' crud to spare myself the headache, they were in the middle of a Pokémon battle. It's basically a test of skill between two trainers. First one to knock out the other wins, and they get some prize money from the loser."

"So no one actually gets killed then?"

"Not unless a human gets in the way." I think he likes the look on my face from that answer a little too much. "But don't sweat it, kid, we only aim for our opponent unless we're told otherwise. Just because we're monsters doesn't mean we're monsters."

"I think I can sympathize with that a little," I say under my breath. Ghosts are the outcasts of the human world based on that very notion. Heck, I don't fair much better, being both dead and alive at once.

"What was that, kid?"

"Nothing." I'd like to get out of here with my secret intact, thank you very much. Even though I shouldn't have to worry about it too much, this not being home and all, who knows? There could be someone out there looking for something part human and part Pokeyman even though I'm nothing like that. Ghosts are considered a 'type' here, so that wouldn't matter. Besides, there's a science lab right up on the hill. I dunno what they do and I don't wanna find out by announcing my status to the world.

I want to get away from those kinds of thoughts, so I decide to look around if Haunter's not going to make much of an effort to make conversation. At the very least, the world I ended up in is beautiful. The rising sun brings a warm tone to the falling leaves all around us. I lost one of my sneakers on the fall, but I don't mind much if the grass feels this nice and cool under my feet. The fauna around here are actually surprisingly cool too, even if they are all Pokeymon.

There're tons of things around here. Kangaroos with really cute babies in their pouches; a few are glaring at me as I pass them by, but at least ONE of them is waving at me so that has to count for something. Giant birds with huge, long beaks that look permanently ticked off. An oddly human-like blue creature that's practicing karate with a tubby red dude. Pokeymon sure come in a lot of shapes and sizes. The one that catches my eye, though, is a little greenish gray Pokeyman over by the hill.

There's a group of the creatures, huddled together and munching the ground like they're all my dad eating fudge. They look pretty happy with one another. Despite their monster-esque appearances, their smiles make them look adorable.

"Hey, Haunter, what kind of Pokeymon are those?" I ask Haunter, nudging him to get him to look and pointing towards the hill.

"'Pokémon', dipstick. And they're called 'Larvitar'. They eat dirt so they can grow up properly," Haunter explains. One of the Larvitar spots us and starts walking up to the two of us. It's pretty small compared to the others; must be either a baby or a runt depending on whether younger ones work the same here as in my world.

Haunter looks disgusted, but I couldn't care less. It's friendly and I want to get a better look at it.

"Hey there, little guy…" I tell it, crouching down slowly so I can get to about its size. It trills, giving me a smile that could melt my core if that was possible.

"Larrr…" It stops in front of me, looking into my eyes and looking me over. Moving my hand carefully to it, I start petting it.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you…"

"Oh, lighten up, man. I don't think the little guy can hurt me." I'm pretty sick of Haunter's dour mood. I mean, c'mon, what's the worst thing that can happen just by petting the thing?

It closes its eyes and tilts its head slightly so that my palm can get a better groove going. The skin is smooth but hard, a bit like polished up stone. A slight tap to test the feel a bit more slightly hurts my fingers, and it doesn't seem to notice. Is it actually made out of rock?

"Danny, seriously, let's _go._ "

"It'll be _fine,_ Haunter."

Of course with my rotten luck, that's when the ground starts to shake.

The Larvitar looks off towards the hill and runs off, leaving me confused and getting Haunter to freak out. Since he can float and is higher up, he's seeing something I don't. A loud roar gets my attention.

"What did I tell you, man?!" Haunter screams, flailing his arms and flying around and panicking.

Coming up over the horizon is a large green dinosaur type monster. Looking up at it, it reminds me of a ghost dragon from my friend Dora's kingdom: big, powerful, and most importantly angry. Very angry… The little Larvitars crowd around it, and close together like that, I can see the resemblance.

"What the heck is that thing?!"

"That's a Tyranitar, the final evolved form of Larvitar. They're territorial, love fighting, and the moms protect their offspring to the death. Bet you wish you didn't touch one of her babies NOW, huh, kid?!"

Those cute Larvitar turn into THAT? What kind of world am I even in; that's even more drastic than Cujo's morphing!

" _YOU HURT BABIES...!"_ rings in my ears in the form of another loud roar. If I can hear it talk to me too, it must be another Ghost Type. I'd ask why I couldn't detect it, but then I remember that my Ghost Sense doesn't really work on Pokeymon.

"S-Sorry, ma'am! We don't want any trouble!" I yell. "We're just gonna clear out and leave you alone!" I've seen bigger things before, and have taken them down myself, but without the majority of powers giving me a bit of that extra oomph of confidence I'm totally scared of the thing. You know you would too, darn it!

"It's no use, you can't just calm down an angry Tyranitar! Let's hurry up and get out of here! The gate that leads to Route 16 is only a little ways away!" Haunter tells me, already gunning for the exit without me. Like I said, he hates me, but back to the point. I'm about to follow when I get distracted having to dodge a large white and red beam. I luckily dodge in time but the large chunk of ground I left behind wasn't so lucky, blown to bits in the wake of the beam's impact. I scramble to my feet, taking off running when large stones erupt from out of the ground and block my path, barely missing me and piercing me to death.

Well, does she want me to get the heck out of dodge and away from her kids or not?! Pick one!

She roars again and comes closer and closer. Haunter and no one else is looking, so I phase through the rocks and keep going, running as fast as my feet can take me. She keeps making rock barricades to try to get me to stop, but I remain intangible and pass safely through.

I'm almost there. Almost to safety. Come on, Danny, run with everything you've got! I've got this! I can make it!

According to the pain in my back right now, I can't make it!

It's then that I'm blasted with a large purplish-brown beam that passes through my intangibility this time, making me slam the ground on my stomach and see twinkling stars in my vision as I do. The world spins, but I don't think I hit my head hard enough to do that.

The Tyranitar is right up on me, and only when I come to my senses does she roar again. I'm on my back and I try anything to buy me time to crawl away: throwing chunks of grass in her eye, using the dirt around me like some kind of smokescreen, even trying but failing to use my ghost rays. Nothing working!

" _TINY HUMAN PAY!_ " With a large draw of air, she builds up a pool of purple-brown energy again, aiming straight for my face, no doubt. I brace myself. There's no way my intangibility is going to protect me when the beam seems to cancel it, and it's at too close a range to try to escape at this point.

"EAT CONFUSE RAY!" I hear from behind us. Haunter's back, and with a flick of the wrist, purple-white orbs surround the Tyranitar, making it dizzy. She forgets all about me for the time being, blinking excessively and holding her head.

"Get up, kid, do you WANT to get blown apart?!" I shake my head and get up. He actually came back to help me out! By the time the Tyranitar seems to snap out of her daze, we're both out of sight. I see her roar in frustration before going back to her kids, meaning that we're finally in the clear.

"How about next time when I tell you to knock something off, you listen to me? You almost got yourself killed and made yourself into a Pokémon." Haunter glares at me when we get inside the gate.

"I could have gotten out of there much easier if you hadn't ditched me!" I yell back. I didn't forget about that just because I almost got nuked in the face. He could have done that glowy ball thing before at any time and I could have gotten to safety on my own. Yeah, it's my fault that she attacked in the first place, but still, what happened to 'partners'? I can tell that my eyes are probably ablaze right now, but I can't help being upset. His eyes shift in shock, so that answers the question on whether he notices or not.

"I thought you could have caught up. I didn't know it was gonna use Stone Edge all those times, and that's my bad, but still. You're a newbie to this whole Pokémon, kid. Not heeding any warnings will get you hurt. I don't HAVE to give you any advice, y'know? I didn't have to come back, either. Could have let you learn your lesson the hard way but I didn't."

What's with the protective attitude all of a sudden?

There's no point in continuing this argument. The both of us screwed up back there, and if he can acknowledge his mistake, then I can too. I sigh and my eyes return to normal, and I mentally berate myself on letting them get out of control like that. He's probably coming up with tons of theories on what else is up with me besides being a crazy person.

"... I'm sorry for not listening to you the first time. I just didn't think we were in any trouble." I frown and wait for him to respond. His floating arms are crossed and looking over me intensely. Whatever he was looking out for must have satisfied him because he relaxes not a minute later.

"I'm sorry for leaving you behind. But really… Dark-Types aren't something to mess with."

"Wait, wait, _Dark_ type? Then how could I understand her?"

"You knew what she was saying!?" Haunter backs up a bit in surprise, eyes bulging out of their sockets. He regains his composure soon after.

"Hmm… I guess it's because Ghost- and Dark- types are a bit similar. Not totally similar though, but enough to be a bit hard to tell apart. How well could you understand?"

"I could tell what she was saying overall, but it was choppy. Like there were only basic translations rather than telling exactly like I can with you. If that makes any sense."

So I can only mildly talk to any Dark types while with Ghost types, it's like talking to another person… Ghost I get, but how similar can Dark types be?

"Let's get moving. Once we get to Route 16, the Pokémon there get much weaker. We'll have a better time traveling, and then we can stop at Nimbasa City to rest."

So that's that with Route 15 then. I can only hope that no other Pokémon end up being as dangerous as that Tyranitar when I'm powered down like this.

Oh, yeah, and powers, you mind coming back some time soon so I can actually defend myself?


End file.
